Finding a Purpose

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I canvassed in one of the sketchiest parts of Portland when I ran into him. His towering frame and bulging muscles intimidated me.

“I’m just a student working on scholarship,” I tried explaining without stammering.

He then told me how he used to go door-to-door too. This information eased my anxiety. He didn’t sell books though. Rather, this man spread awareness about marijuana in Oregon. He seemed to really like the stuff.

“I legalized that sh*t,” he exclaimed proudly.

“So what do you do now?” I asked.

He took a small moment to glance at the gravel driveway leading to his lonely, bright blue mobile home. Then patting his big black truck, he answered “Just workin’ on this baby. Livin’ life.”

Now marijuana is legal for recreational use in Oregon. He fulfilled his self-realized purpose. His life consists of satisfaction and contentment.

Almost a year passed, yet I think about that simple man from time to time. I too walked away from the door-to-door life (even if that’s only momentary, I’m enjoying my canvassing retirement right now). I still reason that my purpose was greater. I wasn’t knocking on doors for cannabis, but for Jesus. Yet I can’t say that I found the same satisfaction and contentment like the simple man in Portland.

I reckon that the dissatisfaction is rooted in a lack of purpose, or rather, forgotten purpose. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus coming back is great. But that anticipated event is meaningless if I forget my true calling.

That is, I was made to fall in love with Jesus.

As Scripture puts it, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

So go ahead and knock on doors to pass out literature, attend church every week, and help those you find in need. But above all, remember your real purpose; you were made to fall in love with Jesus.